Recently, various types of clothes treating apparatuses have been introduced, together with a washing machine for washing clothes. For example, the following clothes drying machines have been developed: a drum-type machine for drying washed clothes, a cabinet type drying machine for drying clothes hanging therein, a freshener for freshening clothes by supplying hot air to the clothes, and the like.
Of the various types of clothes treating apparatuses, in particular, a freshener, a drying machine, or the like, act mainly to heat air using heaters to supply hot air to clothes. Heaters may be classified, for example, into gas heaters for heating air via combustion of gas, and electric heaters for heating air using electrical resistance. In recent years, electric heaters are increasingly used because of their simplified configuration and convenience of installation.
However, when heating air using the above-described electric heaters, high-temperatures generated by the heaters may be directly transferred to the clothes. This causes damage to the clothes and in a worst case, may cause ignition of a fire in a clothes treating apparatus. Furthermore, the electric heaters heat air using electric power, therefore, heating air to a desired temperature requires enormous consumption of electric power and consequently, expensive operating costs for clothes treating apparatuses.